Blind Man's Musings
by unspoken.command
Summary: Maybe Peter was a little jealous. Maybe not. Whatever it is that motivated him into jumping into this sort of situation, the exact same situations he always tells off Neal for getting into, must have been pretty extreme.


Blind Man's Musing

Trust Neal to be good at everything he had ever tried his hand at. The last thing Peter expected when Neal grudgingly took the rifle out of his hands was for Neal to execute two perfect shots with less than proficient time for preparation.

Actually, he didn't really know what he expected, but certainly, not what had actually came to pass. He half expected some disaster to happen, and maybe he held a slim hope that Neal might humiliate himself, call it pettiness but it was hard being around someone so criminally perfect.

So yeah, maybe he was hoping that Neal might slip up and make a mistake but no. Of course Neal couldn't be any less than perfect with everything he did. After he gave an order to pull the shot, he swiftly cocked the rifle, aimed and shot with perfect accuracy. And just to prove that it wasn't a fluke, he gave another perfect shot a few seconds later.

Peter was jealous. He had never even seen Neal with a gun before. And damn it, he was the one that practiced marksmanship with a sturdy regime that he kept up even now, and even he couldn't say with confidence that he'd be able to pull off what Neal had done. It really wasn't fair. It was downright crazy.

Well, reflecting on these thoughts was no use; it only served to depress Peter further. He absently fiddled with the mini-breather. There was just one thing Peter didn't get though, how could someone as brilliant as Neal (as much as he loathed to admit it, Peter had a great deal of respect for Neal) be so completely blind to the fact that Kate was using him? He got the fact that Neal was the very embodiment of a romantic, but seriously, how could someone like Neal, who could pinpoint the criminal and devise a plan for an eminent capture in a flash, be so completely stupid when it came to Kate? Peter just couldn't wrap his mind around it.

"Peter, are you thinking about breaking into another one of those crazy oxygen stealing rooms? Because if not, you can stop playing with that gadget and help me with all this paperwork." Neal offered an amused smile as he watched Peter fumble around for a second, startled.

"There's something wrong here."

"Yes, it doesn't feel quite right when I'm the one berating you for slacking off." Neal laughed good naturedly.

It was silent for a moment as serious undertones crept up around them. The unspoken words lingering like ghosts pressuring them to notice them. There were so many taboo subjects right now that were hanging over their heads and so many words that could point towards them, Peter wanted to avoid them at all cost knowing that as soon as one word comes out the rest of the topic would soon follow and then a barrage of other topics. It was an inevitable floodgate, but one Peter was just as curious to open as to avoid.

"Burke," Hughes slammed open the door causing the two men in the office to jump a little. "We've got a problem."

"Do you mean to say we've got a case?" Neal questioned eyeing the folder in Hughes' hands.

"Same difference; a case means a problem. But this one's urgent so I'm not going to sit down and discuss your philosophy with you. I need you to round up everyone into my office and then I'll brief you." Hughes then slammed the door shut and briskly paced towards his office.

Neal raised an eyebrow. "He's fired up."

"We better go before we're fired."

"Yes. Sir. Yes. Right away. Sir." Neal gave a mock salute and before sauntering out of the office with a pace that contradicted his previous comment. Peter shook his head smiling and followed.

-

"There has been a scam going on for a while now. It has been thought to be relatively harmless compared to the cases so far until now. This man, Jason Mason has been ripping people off small amounts of money for random products, but that's not the point right now, recently we caught word that he may be involved with human trafficking, bond forgery and possible murders. One of our agents, who is working undercover for this man, is no longer in contact. We want someone who can infiltrate and find out what's happening." Hughes paused to look at Neal with intent. "It's a very dangerous job."

Neal studied the photograph before shrugging. "Well, it can't be me. Sorry, I have to sit out of this one."

Everyone turned to stare at Neal, who shrugged again. It was unheard of to hear Neal turn down a case, no matter how dangerous (or especially because it was dangerous), that allowed him some free reign with his tracker cut.

"This guy knows me already."

"A lot of guys know you. You had a hell of a reputation."

"Why thank you, I'm flattered. But I can't. This guy's seen me. He knows I'm Neal Caffrey and the last time we met I didn't exactly leave in his good graces. And as you've already said, he's dangerous; he's very trigger happy, sadistic. And as much as I'm a people's person and I hate letting you guys down, I also hate having guns shoved in my face or the prospect of an early death. This guy's not stupid, he's incredibly suspicious too. Bad combo."

Hughes did a poor job of hiding his disappointment as he sat down and looked at everyone in thoughtful silence, tense lines around his mouth as he pondered upon the current dilemma. Neal on the other hand sat back relaxed, tapping his fingers on the table with a rhythm only he heard. Everyone else just stared at the two.

Peter was getting a little annoyed at everything. It's not like they haven't worked without Neal before. Sure, it was a dangerous job, but it wasn't always fair to have Neal taking the risks. He coughed to break the silence and draw everyone's attention to him. "I'll do it."

"Brave, Peter. But I'm not sure you can bluff your way into their ranks." Neal's smile was tense, his eyes cool.

"What's with the sudden lack of confidence? You even encouraged me to go undercover last mission." Peter's irritation was growing; Neal didn't seem to have very high regards for him if he thought Peter couldn't handle a little danger.

Neal shrugged, "If you're that desperate to court death I'm not going to stop you." Neal's words were nonchalant, as was his tone, but his eyes were cast in shadows; disapproving.

Peter looked towards Hughes who nodded. Hughes seemed a little concerned with the way Neal was throwing cautions left and right, everyone knew Neal was anything but cautious; in fact he was downright impulsive. "Ok. You'll go under your cover of Mitch Hayden, you're familiar with him, the details is in the folder," Hughes threw a folder in front of Peter. "Dismissed."

-

"Mitch Hayden? Mitch?" Neal smiled. "You look nothing like a Mitch."

"So there are certain faces assigned to certain names now?"

"There has always been," Neal smiled charmingly.

"If so, isn't it a little unfair that your face seems to be suitable for so many names?"

"Why do you say that?" Neal had a twinkle in his eyes.

"Just a hunch that Nicholas Holden isn't your only alias."

Neal shrugged. "Whatever. Let me give you an outline of what I know about Jason. You're going to need be in the know about this, it's going to help you more than any information that folder's going to have."

"Right."

"You know what? Hughes's surprisingly generous." Neal said as he took Peter's seat.

"That's got nothing to do with Jason and I doubt it's going to help me in dealing with him. But go on, why do you say that?"

"He didn't threaten me once about throwing back into Super Max if I didn't accept the job."

Peter threw an incredulous look over to Neal. "Hughes may be somewhat strict but he's not evil. And besides, he values you." Seeing Neal's amused expression, Peter added, "grudgingly. He likes smart people and if you're that sure that your odds of survival are slim to none he wouldn't push you, having a dead you is of no use to us. It's better to have you alive and working behind the scenes."

"Peter," Neal smiled, his voice adopted a surprise tone but Peter knew better, he was anything but. "I'm flattered. So you're admitting I'm the brains of the operation either way?"

"Oh please," Peter gave his best give-me-a-break voice, "I never said such a thing. I just said you are smart. A lot of people are smart. I never said you were the brains of the operation."

Neal smiled indulgently.

* * *

I have a slight idea with where I'm going with this. Haha. Wrote it in a sudden bout of inspiration after watching episode 8. I'm not sure if I should continue it. Let me know what you think. ;D


End file.
